An Odd Saturday
by At Some Actor's West Side Loft
Summary: The Doctor unexpectedly pops the question to Donna Noble. This is the story of what happens after. Author's note: AU, post Journey's End, the Doctor and the DoctorDonna are happily together, traveling in the TARDIS. Reviews are like Eleven, bowties, and fezzes: Cool. M for possible honeymoon activities.
1. Dealing with a Sick Doctor

Normally, the Doctor would not be in bed at 9:23 AM on a Saturday.

It wasn't just a matter of the whole "Time Lords don't need sleep" thing. It also happened that Saturday was his absolute favorite day-Always held some adventure, some fun. Being curious, as always, he'd taken to exploring his library for information on the days of the week. He'd found that people were more likely to be married on Saturdays, that babies were most often born on Saturdays, that the wonderful weekend day promised, on Earth, the best chance of sunshine out of the seven.

"Told you to order a medium steak, but what do I know about one of my favorite restaurants?" Donna shot him one of her "You are a stupid, stubborn _dumbo"_ looks.

He groaned an apology. "I'm sorry, dear."

Yes, the mighty Time Lord was losing the chance to enjoy his precious Saturday to a woefully undercooked New York strip steak he'd eaten last night. To his and Donna's dismay, the TARDIS medicine cabinet held few alien pills that could help. The Doctor insisted it was because Time Lords rarely grew ill from consuming human food. Donna contended that the poor TARDIS could hardly be prepared for her master to be daft enough to chow down on bloody meat. Thus, Donna was left playing nurse. Still, wasn't as if she hadn't cared for a hungover friend or two in her day: The Doctor, like those who partied too hard, required some water, TUMS, flat ginger ale, and rest.

While humans were only too content to lay in bed and recover, the Doctor's legs twitched restlessly. He needed to be up and about, walking (and of course, eventually, jogging and running) and exploring some new or old planet. Things needed to be Soniced, aliens needed to be met, plants needed to be inspected…

As she returned with a washcloth, Donna narrowed her eyes, recognizing his desire to move. "You're resting til at LEAST this afternoon, Timeboy."

"Don-na! Can't I just have a walk round the TARDIS?" He whined.

She tapped her chin, pretending to seriously reconsider. Her smile gleamed with a hint of ill intent. "Sure. Go for it."

His eyes lit up at the prospect of escape. He had so many hours left to enjoy Saturday! He…nearly toppled over, legs turning to rubber as he went to open his bedroom door. Donna caught him and helped him stumble back to bed.

"Have I mentioned, you _really _should listen to me more often." She clucked her tongue, but her eyes smiled. Trust her Spaceman to remain stupidly chipper in the face of a random illness.

"Yes, yes, I know," he admitted, covering her hand in his. "Forgive a stupid, skinny, ill Time Lord his arrogance?"

"Of course," she smiled, planting a kiss on his sweaty forehead. "So you'll stay in bed now? I don't have to handcuff you to the bloody headboard?"

"No, you've made your point," he replied with a rueful laugh. His thoughts wandered off on a rather inappropriate tangent. _"That's something we haven't done…and Donna _does _like to be a tease in bed…I wonder…?"_

A singsong voice entered his head. _"I can hear your thoughts, you know_."

He thought merrily, _"And I yours, darling, so I'll have you know it's your fault my mind's in the gutter_. _You do love getting a rise out of me, don't you?"_

A sensual hiss. _"Absolutely."_

"Be that as it may, Spaceman," Donna continued, picking up where her thought left off, "for now, you need rest. Is there anything else I can do for you? Get another pillow? S'more water?"

The words bypassed his brain on the way out of his mouth. "Marry me."


	2. Complications

She looked at him as if he'd just lopped his leg off and spawned another clone. "Did I hear you right? Did you just propose?"

"Yeah." His tone was light as a lead balloon.

He retreated into his own head, constructing an invisible barrier around his thoughts. _"You do know what that means? Marriage? As in, together FOREVER?"_

"_Yes," _he replied. _"I AM a genius. And…well, we HAVE been together for going on a year now. And besides…if I can marry River Song, why can't I marry another Time Lady?" _His curiosity had gotten the better of him there: He'd flipped forward in his book and found that marriage between a Time Lord and Lady was indeed possible. But still…Donna brought him back to life with a slap.

"Just yeah?!" she screeched. "That's all you're going to say? You can prattle on about an extinct alien species for days, but you ask a girl to be your wife and when she wants an explanation-"

He leaned in and pecked her on the lips-Kissing Donna was very nearly the only way to get her mouth shut, he'd found. "I was gonna say," he hurried on, "Yes, I did ask you to marry me. Since…well, we've been happy together, this whole time we've been a couple, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, course. Go on."

"Then isn't it a natural step in our relationship? Plus…" He took a massive risk. "Didn't you once say you wanted to travel with me forever?" If this proposal worked out, he'd _really _need to send Martha Jones a thank you note for letting that bit of information slip.

"Well…yes, but that was before I became the DoctorDonna." A dark cloud passed over his face at her qualification. She took his hands in hers, pressed them to her lips, and smiled gently. "Look, Doctor. I love you. In fact, I rather wish there was another way to say it, because I don't think those three words are good enough." She sighed. "It's just…forever. And you…you regenerate, you change. Do I?"

"No…no, you wouldn't, you don't have any Time Lady physiology. I think I'd know by now if you did, as I have seen every wonderful inch of you," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. She pawed at him.

"Oi, quit it, ya sick alien. You need rest, and what you want to do is the exact opposite of resting." Still, she kept her arms around him.

"Give me some time to think?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, love. When you have an answer, tell me."

Soon as he left, she went into her bathroom, got undressed, hopped in the shower, turned on the hot water, and screamed bloody murder.

Time Lords might be sullen and moody, but this Time Lady had an expressive voice.

She was…shocked, thrilled, terrified, and giddy, all at once.

"_Did he really doubt I'd wanna spend forever with him?"_ Truthfully, when she'd first become the DoctorDonna, that thought had electrified her. Destiny had ensured that two lonely souls had met their matches. And he'd agreed, hadn't he? When she'd said, "I was gonna be with you…forever." His answer had been, "I know." And…well, look at that, they were potentially going to fulfill her desire.

Her human side automatically dredged up the negatives of the situation. _"He didn't say he wanted to," _she remarked, her snide voice ripping her self esteem to ribbons. "_Since he knew you had to leave anyway…"_

She took a deep breath. If only she could make her thoughts take a physical form, she'd kill them, strangle them to death in this shower, reduce them to nothing (surely, there was a laser hiding somewhere on the TARDIS), and let them swirl down the drain. Even though the Doctor's mind was molded with hers, Donna still lapsed into her old self on rare occasions.

She reconsidered his proposal. A knot in her stomach grew at the realization that he (or, more accurately, his current form) wouldn't live forever. Not only that, but… "_What if we don't want each other when he changes?" _she fretted. She thumbed through the Doctor's memories of his previous regenerations. Not wanting to infringe on his privacy too much, she settled for snapshots. All in all, he was an attractive fellow, she decided-Especially his last form! She would have been loathe to agree to be "just mates" with him. And, with a smile, she realized how, when they'd first rediscovered each other, she'd been the tiniest bit insulted that the Doctor had seemed so revolted at the idea of mating with her. He was, at his core, always the same: Always bearing the tendency to save. And for that, she would love him.

She imagined cloaking her thoughts in black spray paint to keep the Doctor out of her head, then thought, beaming, "_We are going to be together forever."_

She'd tell him. In her own way, of course.

A couple of weeks later, the pair had just delivered a ten person ring of art thieving aliens from Jupiter to justice, and decided to take a stroll around the now safe London gallery.

"Care for a spot of coffee, Earthgirl?" he asked. "There's bound to be a shop somewhere around here."

"Sure thing, Spaceman," she replied, linking arms with him.

There was only one customer in front of them, a college age bloke, but the barista-a brunette who was probably around 19 or 20-was taking an awfully long time crafting a simple café misto to go. The young man held the drink up to his eye, checking that the milk to coffee ratio was correct, when he suddenly gave a small grin, turned red, and hurried out.

"It's hot in here," the girl sighed, trying unsuccessfully to hide her own blush. "Err…what'll you two have?"

"Caramel latte, please," Donna answered.

"I'll have the white chocolate mocha," the Doctor said, licking his lips just thinking about the tasty beverage.

Wanting to explore more of the museum, they made their order to go. The Doctor grinned as they vacated the coffee shop.

"What's got you in a good mood?" Donna asked, now smiling at his mild, near childish excitement.

"They were just so cute," he gushed. "I bet she wrote her number on the cup, and that's why the order took so long."

She rolled her eyes. "God, I'm gonna be stuck with a hopeless romantic for a husband."

"Hey, I'm not hopeless, just-" He was just warming up for a silly argument when the end of Donna's sentence hit him with the force of a train doing light speed. A janitor groaned as he watched the cup tumble to the just washed floor. "Did you…are you saying…"

"Yes, Doct-" Her scream cut off the end of her reply, for the Doctor had picked her up into a massive hug.

"Donna Noble?" He yelled.

"Yes?" His giddy nature made her feel like she'd just inhaled a healthy dose of laughing gas.

"You just agreed to marry me?"

"Yes, you moron!" she yelled back.

"That is SO wizard!"

With that, the duo made a dash for the closest exit-It seemed shouting in an old art museum wasn't well received.


End file.
